Chapter 92: Warning in the Wolf’s Shadow

After confirming that only a single evolved wolf attacked the Breeding Center this time, Xia Qing told Chen Cheng and Chen Zheng to return to Plot One before calling Luo Pei. “Luo Ge, I ran into the wolf that attacked the wild boars, in the northern Evolver Forest by the Breeding Center. It’s not the same one as last time—both of its ears are intact. Still, it’s just as strong, smart and incredibly fast.”

“Got it. Stay inside your territory for the next few days, that evolved wolf might come back.” As soon as Luo Pei hung up, he dialed Yang Jin. “Jin, pull the team back. We can’t keep looking for the spring water.”

Yang Jin, already leading his squad up Mountain 55, asked, “What happened?”

Luo Pei explained, “An evolved wolf just attacked the Breeding Center and killed two wild boars. The wolf pack probably thinks you were out looking for them for revenge, so they came and slaughtered pigs as a warning.”

In the evolved wolves’ eyes, humans living in clusters were a tribe. If people kept pressing deeper, the wolves would attack the Breeding Center again. If all the pigs got slaughtered and humans still refused to leave, those wolves might expand their attacks to people in nearby territories.

Yang Jin looked out at the sprawling Evolver Forest, making a fast call. “Luo Ge, report this up the chain, and make it sound as serious as possible. Get the Breeding Center folks to evacuate fast. Tell Xie Yu too, get him to push the Safe Zone to ‘force-transfer’ the Breeding Center land over to us.”

Things were different now. Last time, Yang Jin suggested fencing off the valley and building the Breeding Center to help secure the nearby territories. But now Mountain Forty-Nine belonged to the Azure Dragon Unit, and most pigs at the Breeding Center were dead anyway. The place had lost its purpose.

After another evolved wolf attack, the military sent squads to boost security around the territory near the Breeding Center, and all the lordlings were told not to leave home.

Inside the territories, life went on as usual. After ten years living through cataclysms, losing a pig to a wolf—or even a neighbor—wasn’t so strange anymore. Those lucky enough to survive just had to keep grinding to stay alive.

The next day, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui drove their pickup to Territory Three and dropped off the eight hundred pounds of earthworm castings Xia Qing had ordered.

Zhong Tao accepted Xia Qing’s twenty green-light spinach seeds—traded with Sun Zhe for the earthworm castings—and couldn’t help his envy. “Xia Qing, you really know what you’re doing! It’s only been a few months and you’re already trading vegetable seeds for goods.”

Of course, these twenty were regular green-light spinach seeds from Zhang San. Xia Qing couldn’t help but vent. “I only found a dozen or so green-light spinach plants in my territory, treated them like royalty for over two months, and finally got them to seed. Just as the seeds were nearly ready, half of them got wiped out during the Xiang Rain—now I’m left with just two hundred or so seeds. If I didn’t need earthworm castings so badly, I couldn’t bear to trade any away.”

Two hundred spinach seeds sounds like a lot, but with iffy sprouting rates, it’s really not much. Zhong Tao didn’t push for more, and instead asked Xia Qing about her losses during the Xiang Rain. “You had all those rainproof tarps ready—did you take much damage this time?”

“Lost about a third of most crops, but the potatoes took the worst hit.” Xia Qing shivered at the memory. “I had four potato plants go aggressive and Xiangify—they ripped down my rainproof shelter, and I got whipped more than a dozen times by potato vines. If I hadn’t evolved physically, it’s a toss-up whether I’d have survived. Tao, did you guys run into an evolved beast?”

Through her protective mask, Xia Qing could see fresh wounds on both Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui’s faces, hastily dabbed with disinfectant—clear signs of a recent fight.

Zhong Tao cursed, “Wasn’t an evolved beast. We got ambushed on the way back from North Zone One. If Kui and I hadn’t been armed, we’d have bit it out there today.”

The northern part of Hui San Base included fifty plots divided in two chunks: Plots 1 to 28 near the old regimental quarters, and Plots 29 to 50 close to the Safe Zone. In between was nearly a hundred miles of abandoned towns and woods. Even after multiple clear-outs, the wilderness was packed with danger.

For plenty of people, robbing human transport convoys ranked high on the list of ways to snag supplies—the risks were low, the rewards big.

In theory, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui, constantly running these routes, should’ve had both the vigilance and the firepower to avoid this kind of trap.

Before Xia Qing could ask, Zhong Tao kept going. “We spotted a woman holding a kid being chased by evolved rats. Soon as I got out to help, bam—turns out, even ten years after the disaster, people are still using kids as bait. I almost died at that woman’s hands!”

Xia Qing was just as shocked. Back in year seven of the disaster, Hua Nation rolled out all sorts of protections for women and kids. Every woman of childbearing age and every child under twelve in the Safe Zone could get free rations. And for kids with multiple evolution levels, the benefits were even better.

With policies like that, you’d expect a woman with a child to just settle down in the Safe Zone. For her to be out there robbing people was all kinds of rare.

Xia Qing asked which way the woman escaped, then flipped open her basket. “I caught a red-light porcupine while doing the rounds—Tao, would you mind trading it for some quality salt for me? And take these two yellowlight snakes for you and Kui, help you both recover.”

After so many trades, Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui already knew Xia Qing didn’t eat snakes and weren’t shy about accepting the gift. They thanked her and packed up the goods.

With business done, Zhong Tao got chatty again. “Good thing you’re an Evolver, Xia Qing. A regular person wouldn’t just get hurt after a dozen whacks from potato vines—they’d die in four or five. You probably haven’t heard yet…”

Zhong Tao glanced around and lowered his voice.

Xia Qing leaned forward, eyes fixed on Zhong Tao, already in serious listener mode.

“During the second Xiang Rain, all the territories put together lost…” Zhong Tao counted—a finger, then two, then three.

A hundred and twenty-three people? Xia Qing reflexively drew a sharp breath. “That many?”

“There were even more injured, for sure. The Base didn’t dare report the true numbers. Our convoy compared notes in secret—the number hurt by those potato lashes in North District alone was over a hundred, and some territories only had a handful of people.” Zhong Tao let out a weary sigh.

Xia Qing feigned ignorance—like she had no clue the Tang Family was actually involved—and put on a face full of righteous anger. “Why would the Safe Zone distribute such dangerous seeds?!”

“My thoughts exactly,” Zhong Tao sighed. “I even heard rumors it’s connected to the Tang Family. Doesn’t make sense, honestly.”

Meanwhile, Tang Huai, secretly eavesdropping from the grass in Territory Two, looked absolutely livid.

Realizing she’d reached a dead end with the gossip, Xia Qing shifted focus. “Did the Base say anything about compensating the lords for the losses caused by the potato seeds?”

“There’ll definitely be compensation, just nothing settled yet. I heard it’ll probably be seeds. When they decide, I’ll let you know.” Gossip shared, Zhong Tao grinned. “By the way, Xia Qing, you got any more veggies? Kui and I want to trade for some.”

Xia Qing played it safe and didn’t agree right away. “I lost a ton during the Xiang Rain too, so I’m trading with other lords for now. The plants that made it are recovering slow, but next time you come by there should be more. What are you both looking for?”

Xia Qing also placed another order with Sun Zhe: eight hundred pounds of earthworm castings, delivery set for twenty days later. When that batch arrived, she’d be harvesting wheat and ready to plant corn, mung beans, and rice—meaning tons of organic fertilizer would be needed. She figured she’d swap some veggies with Zhong Tao and his team then.

Zhong Tao replied fast, “Tomatoes and cucumbers. The good stuff in the Safe Zone never reaches us, and even my nephew at home is drooling for them.”

Zheng Kui was even more eager. “Beans, eggplant, pumpkin—I’ll take whatever you’re willing to trade!”

Given their access to fifty territories, it seemed odd that Zhong Tao and Zheng Kui lacked vegetables. Xia Qing didn’t ask, just nodded. “Pumpkins haven’t started growing yet, but I’ve got the others. If they ripen before you get here, I’ll dry them for you first…”

“If they’re about ripe, just let me know,” Zhong Tao said cheerfully, “Kui and I are always on the road, coming by is no trouble at all.”

Just before heading out, Zheng Kui shared some big news with Xia Qing. “I heard the Base plans to hold a big lord’s agricultural trade fair next month.”

“Agricultural trade fair?” Now, that was news to Xia Qing. She pressed for details. “What’s it for? Where will it be held?”